Earnings power Wall Street

Nasdaq hit a record high, while the Dow and S&P 500 brushed against recent peaks as strong earnings underscored the health of corporate America. Roselle Chen reports.

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Nasdaq crossed the 6,000 threshold for the first time on Tuesday, and the Dow registered triple-digit gains on strong earnings.
Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management
(SOUNDBITE) LUCA PAOLINI, CHIEF STRATEGIST, PICTET ASSET MANAGEMENT (ENGLISH) SAYING:
"I think the main reason is that we still feel the positive impact of the French elections, and actually went quite well, yesterday was a big raise in stock markets, and also today, we have good news the earnings season, which we thought would be positive for the U.S. and globally, and I think we start to see first positive news and this is obviously pushing prices even higher."
Nasdaq got a massive boost from gains in Apple and Microsoft. Both companies are reporting on Thursday, but analyst are already acting on high hopes.
Caterpillar shares surged after crushing estimates.
McDonald's beat as well and its stock jumped.
The S&P 500 touched its day's high after the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. President Donald Trump's tax proposal on Wednesday will include a cut to 15 percent for business owners.
European stocks closed higher.

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